A Minnesota congresswoman has introduced an amendment to a 2011 budget bill to ban the military from sponsoring NASCAR teams.

Military branches have been affiliated with NASCAR teams for years, believing it helped recruiting. The National Guard sponsors Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team, the U.S. Army sponsors Ryan Newman's cars, and the U.S. Air Force sponsors AJ Allmendinger's team in the Sprint Cup Series.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., was not available to comment on her amendment Tuesday, but Bill Harper, her chief of staff, dismisses the effectiveness of those sponsorships on recruiting.

"I would challenge the Pentagon to give me one example of someone today in Iraq or Afghanistan who saw the Go Army car going around the race track and that's why they joined the Army," Harper said in a phone interview Tuesday. "It may be the reason why they go to Home Depot but not necessarily Afghanistan."

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston had a different take on the recruiting argument.

"NASCAR fans are the kind of people who fight America's wars, which would put into question the wisdom of banning the military's ability to reach out to them," Poston said.

Citing research done for NASCAR, Poston said 1 in 3 men or women is a NASCAR fan and that 1 in 5 is serving or has served in the military. Poston also said research showed that NASCAR fans were 1.5 times more likely than non-fans to serve in the military.

Harper noted that nothing in the amendment would prevent any military branch from recruiting at NASCAR events; it's just that Rep. McCollum does not see the benefit of spending millions to be on the cars.

Although military branches sponsor race teams on other circuits - drag racing and IndyCar, for example - the amendment is only directed at NASCAR.

Current NASCAR sponsorship totals are unavailable, but in 2009, the U.S. Army paid $11.6 million to sponsor Newman's car - a tiny total in a federal budget that is approaching $4 trillion. But Harper argued that the size of the expense isn't the point.

"We're in a fiscal crisis," he said. "There's an amendment on the floor to eliminate all funding for homeless veterans. On one hand, we're eliminating assistance to men and women who served our country... and on the other hand, we're paying for race cars. That doesn't make sense.

"The question is why are taxpayer dollars being used to sponsor NASCAR race cars? We've got two wars going on. Can we afford it? This is not an attack on NASCAR. There are a lot of private-sector businesses that support NASCAR. The Pentagon is in the war fighting business and not race business."

Harper admitted there is a long way to go for this amendment to become a part of the law.

Congress and the Senate are expected to pass separate bills to fund the federal government through this fiscal year, and McCollum's amendment is attached to the House bill.

Then a committee will merge those bills before sending a measure to the president to sign. Even if the amendment becomes a part of the law, it would be effective only through Sept. 30, the end of the government's fiscal year.

"The question is going to be what do we want to invest our precious tax dollars in as Americans," Harper said. "We are going to be cutting health centers and (aid) to homeless vets and cutting money to homes and kids. Is NASCAR sponsorship a greater priority than those investments in our community and families?"